McKenney Library

McKenney Library. Petersburg, Virginia. , Petersburg's main public library, the William R. McKenney Library, is housed in a dwelling constructed in 1859 by John Dodson, a prominent lawyer and a former mayor of Petersburg. After the Civil War, the Confederate general and railroad magnate Billy Mahone lived in the house, where he entertained such dignitaries as Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee., The McKenney family gave the house to the City of Petersburg in 1923 to be used as a library in honor of their father, the well-known attorney William R. McKenney. Opened in 1924, the McKenney Library was segregated for decades, with white patrons allowed to use the main level and African Americans relegated to the basement. In 1960 several African American ministers led an effort to desegregate the main level. The Revs. Wyatt Tee Walker and R.B. Williams were arrested the next day, and the library closed. As a result, the African American community held a protest at Zion Baptist Church on Byrne Street. Several months later, the library reopened as one of the first Petersburg institutions to be integrated., This quiet event is considered the turning point of the civil rights movement in Petersburg. Sit-ins at such places as Woolworth and Lee Park continued, and Dr. Martin Luter King Jr. came to Petersburg to ask Rev. Walker to serve as his executive director. Over the course of several visits, Dr. King participated in door-to-door voter registration drives and spoke at several churches as well as Virginia State University., In 1980 Wayne Crocker, an African American, was named director of the Petersburg Public Library, dramatically illustrating the great success of the forces unleashed by the desegregation of the McKenney Library in 1960., [Captions:] , The Rev. R.B. Williams (left), the Rev. Milton Reid (center), and the Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker led the sit-in at McKenney Library in March 1960. More than 140 people participated, including many students from Peabody High School and Virginia State University.